berry



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

J. BERRY.

' MAGHINE'FOR GRINDING THE ENDS 0P WIRES.

zrli Patented Aug. 18. 1885.

INVENTOR ATTORNE WITNESSES:

Nv PETER$ Phnmumo n her, wa-mn mn. n, c,

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. BERRY.

MACHINE FOR GRINDING THE ENDS 0E WIRES. No. 324,641. Patented Aug. 18 188 5.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR ATTORNEY UNIT D STATES PATEN JOHN BERRY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL NEEDLE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR GRINDING THE ENDS OF WIRES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 324,641, dated August 1a 1885.

Application filed December 1, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN BERRY, a citizen of the United States,- residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines for Grinding the Ends of Wires to a Conical Form, of which the following is a specification.

Thisinvention relates to improvementsin ma chines for removing the burr from the ends of needle-blanks which have been out off from wire, and for grinding the ends of saidblanks to a substantially uniform conical shape, the object being to provide improved mechanism for holding, moving, rotating, and controlling the blanks while their ends are being ground, to the end that the extremities of the blanks may be so shaped as to facilitate their subsequent formation into perfect needles by cold compression or swaging.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a ma chine for grinding the ends of needle-blanks to a cone shape, constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view partly in section. Fig. 3 is a view of the blank-table separate from the machine. Fig. 4 is a view of the blank-holder; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a needle-blank, showing substantially the form which is given to its ends by the action of the machine.

I-Ieretofore it has been customary to pay no attention to the precise shape of the ends of the short pieces of wire which are cut to provide suitable blanks from which to make needles by swaging or cold compression. In practice, however, it is found that a burr accident-ally left on the end of the blank by the cutter or an end thereof, so out as to leave a face having a plane inclined to the axis of the blank, or of other irregular form, causes a serious imperfection in the swaged needle made therefrom, by serving to produce a concealed chamber in the needle,or to leave acold sheetscale on it, the presence of either one being usually developed only when the needle is used, thus oceasioning much inconvenience and loss; but by grinding the end of each blank to substantially the form shown in Fig. 5that is to say, conical--or making each extremity of the blank constitute the apex of a cone, all of the above-named imperfections are avoided. To this end the within-described machine embodies means for supplying a nee dle-blank holder with a mass of blanks which holds the latter side by side, means for mov ing the holder and blanks along and rotating the latter while so moved, and for grinding theends thereof to the aforesaid form 'while being so moved and rotated.

In the drawings, A is the bed of the machine, on which is bolted a centrally-located angle-piece, A, and to the latter is bolted a vertical support, at, on which are hung suit able hearings to receive a shaft having thereon a worm, d, and on the end of said shaft a driving-pulley, c, is secured, driven by a belt, 0, or other suitable means. The support d has also a bearing for a short shaft standing the first-named ones and the support (1, and

between said four posts is supported agrooved way, a, having a groove, 6, therein, and two lateral projections thereon, on each of which is adjustably secured an abutmentplate, 3.

A boX, H, is hung under the rear end of the way a, and the latter extends from. the box beyond the posts a, between which the pulley f is supported. A bar, a", is secured between said four posts, a, in a position parallel with the way a, through which is a series of adj usting-screws, 2, which are adapted to op crate against a shoe, b, which lies on the belt 6 and keep the latter in a proper position, for purposes hereinafter set forth.

Two headst-ocks, D, are so bolted to the bed A as to provide for their adj ustment thereon toward or from theway a, and in suitable bearings thereon is placed a shaft carrying on one end a grinding'whcel, E, and on the other or elsewhere on the shaft a drivingpulley, as shown. The said grinding-wheels are located opposite the said lateral projections on the way a, on which are the abutment-plates 3.

A needle-blank table, B, is located at the strip, 4, one of which is partly cutaway, leaving a connecting-strip, 14, and from said cutaway strip there extends two arms, 15 15, at

right angles thereto on the face of the table,

and between said arms the feed-plate m is adapted to slide. A box, J, for holding the blanks 10 which are to be ground is supported (partly by an arm, 12,) over the slide on, so that when the latter is drawn from under the box the space between the bottom of the latter and the face of the table will be equal to the diameter of the blanks in the box.

A needle-blank holder, 5, Fig. 4,.having an abutment plate or head, 9, at each end united by a rib, 13, is adapted to slide in the groove 8 in the table and in the groove 6 in way a. In practice the space between the heads9 is equal to the length of the cutaway part of strip 4. and to the width of the slide m, and the thickness of the heads 9 above rib 1-3 is somewhat less than the diameter of the needleblanks, so that the belt a will bear only on the latter in order to rotate them. The blankholder, as shown inFig. 4., is somewhat onlarged. Several blank-holders are employed with each machine, as hereinafter "described.

To provide means for moving the pulleys e and f and the way a up and down for adjustment, the support 01 and the posts a are adj ustably secured to the angle-piece A. Table B is also capable of a like adjustment.

The operation of the machine is 'as follows: The length of the blanks or wires 10 having been determined, the strips at 4 on the table B are adjusted to a proper distance apart to permit the ends of the blanks to pass freely under their overhanging borders, as seen in Fig. 2, the abutment plates 3-3 are adjusted so that their inner edges shall be on a line with the said guide-strips 4, and the headstocks D are properly set to bring the peripheries of the wheels E into proper relation with the ends of the blanks as the latter arrive opposite the wheels. The under face of the belt a, adjoining the way a, is then, by screws 2 in bar a, forced downward sufficiently to cause the belt to bear on the blankswhen they and the holder 5 are between it and the way a. The boxJ being supplied with blanks in the order shown, the holder 5 is placed on table B, the opening between its heads 9 being opposite the opening in strip land the end of slide m.

The latter is then drawn from under box J, letting the bottom course of blanks in the box drop on the table. The slide is then moved toward the box and against the ends of said bottom course of blanks, carrying the latter bodily onto the holder. The operator then pushes the latter and the blanks over the table, and the end of the holder far enough under belt 6 to cause the latter, which is running in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, to engage with the surface of the blanks, they and the holder being held up against the pressure of the belt by the way a, on which the holder slides, the slight friction between the latter and the way being sufficient to keep the blanks turning. The action of belt 6 on the blanks causes them to be all rotated simultaneously, and to be so forced against the forward head 9 of the holder as to draw that along, so that the blanks and the holder move together, the blanks continuing to revolve while passing and bearing against the wheels E, and until they pass from under belt 6 As the blanks arrive between the wheel E and the plate 3, one end thereof comes in contact with the latter, and the blanks are thereby prevented from moving en'dwise when they come in contact with the wheel, first one end being ground and then the other as they pass each wheel, and thenthe holder and ground blanks are carried off from the end of the way a and dropped into the box H. As soon as the first holderful of blanks has passed along out of the way,another one is pushed under belt e", so that two ormore are moving along the way a at the same time.

The above-described manner of treatingthe needle-blanks insures uniformity of length, which, together with the aforesaid advantage arising from the conical-shaped end, contributes to the production of needles of uniform length and quality. v

It is obvious that the within-described machine may be employed for cone -shaping pieces of wire for other purposes than for needle-blanks, and for use in any art where such pieces are required.

What I claim as my invention is;-

"1. In a machine for grinding the ends of wire to a cone shape, a way for a wire-holder to slide on having an abutment-plate on opposite sides thereof, a wire-holder having two heads, between which to placethe wires which are to be ground, a belt to move over and in contact with said wires,'one or more grindingwheels adapted to revolve near to and in a IIO plane at right angles to said way, and means,

substantially as described, for regulating the pressure of said belt against the wires, com- .bined and operating substantially as set forth.

2. In a machine for grinding the ends of wire to aconical shape, a way for a wire-holder to slide on having onopposite side's thereof an abutment-plate adjustable to and from the center of the way, a wireholder for hol'din'gpieces of wire, having two heads thereon, a belt to move over and in contact withsaid wires, one or more-'gri-nding-wheels adapted to revolve in a plane at right angles to said way and adjustable toward and from the latter, and means, substantially as described, for regulating the bined and operating substantially as set forth.

3. The way a, the belt a, the wire-holder 5, to coincide with the way, and having the 10 having an abutment-plate, 9, at each end, and guide-strips 4 4 thereon, one of which is out having a sliding motion on said way,which is away at its side and has arms 15 thereon, the imparted to it through thecontact of saidbelt holder 13, the box J, and the slide m, com- 5 with the pieces of Wire carried thereon, the bined and operating substantially as set forth.

shoe 1), and means, substantially as described, JOHN BERRY. for forcing the shoe against said belt, com- Witnesses: bined and operating substantially as set forth. L. B. BILLINGS,

4. The grooved way, the table B, grooved A. M. HOWARD. 

